CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Five things to watch in Thursday night's game between the Browns and Bills:

1. Brian Hoyer vs. Bills' Good hands people: The Bills lead the NFL with nine interceptions, including five last week off of Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco.

"They were really impressive against Baltimore last week and we all know what Flacco did on his way to the Super Bowl. ... When you pick him off five times, it gets your attention,'' said offensive coordinator Norv Turner.

"Brian's going to have to be real sharp and we're going to have to be real sharp with our protections, because it is a little different-style defense (a 3-4) and they play a lot of different man-type schemes. The receivers are going to have to work hard to get open and Brian's going to have to make good decisions.''

Flacco threw the ball 50 times last week. Hoyer threw three interceptions in his first start against the Vikings out of 54 attempts. He was pick-free last week in 38 passes. The Bills have a banged-up secondary, with starters Leodis McKelvin, Jairus Byrd and Stephon Gilmore all sitting out last week, but the backups came up big. The Bills are tied for fifth in the AFC with 13 sacks, one shy of the Browns, who are tied for second.

2. Super Mario vs. Joe and Mitch: Defensive end Mario Williams already has 5.5 sacks, third in the NFL. But 4.5 of them came in one game against the Panthers, a career high. Williams will line up mostly over left tackle Joe Thomas, but the Bills will flop him over to Mitchell Schwartz at times.

Turner said Schwartz, who got out to a rough start in his first two outings, played his "best game by far'' against the Bengals. He marveled at how well Thomas is playing against some of the league's best pass-rushers this season.

"You get a guy that big (6-6, 292), that fast, that strong he’s going to give you pretty much everything you can handle," Mitchell said of Williams. "You’ve got to be pretty good with what you are doing or otherwise he can expose you. Last year, he was coming off an injury. This year, he’s fully healthy.”

Since entering the league in 2006, Williams -- a two-time Pro Bowler -- ranks fifth in the NFL with 69 sacks.

“Big, fast, strong — that barely describes him,” Thomas said. “He’s been a great player for a while, and I think he’s making a big impact on Buffalo’s defense right now.”

3. Bills ailing running backs vs. Browns brick wall: The Bills are second in the NFL with 152 yards rushing per game, but the Browns are fourth against the run (79 per game) and the 2.9 yards allowed per rush is best in the league. The Browns are the only team to have not given up a rush of 15 yards or longer. The longest run was 14 yards by Miami's Daniel Thomas. They held the great Adrian Peterson to 88 yards and allowed the Dolphins only 20 yards in the opener, tied for second-fewest in team history.

Linebacker D'Qwell Jackson reiterated that defense will be a force all season.

"No one is going to be able to run on us this year, as long as we stay healthy and continue to grind the tape out and continue what we need to to on (game day),'' he said. "We've faced one of the purest running backs in Adrian Peterson, so we feel that's what we do best and (that's) stopping the run.''

Bills premier running back C.J. Spiller, who averaged 6.0 yards en route to his 1,244 yard last season, is questionable with an ankle injury.

4. Keke and Kiko: Each team has a rookie linebacker wreaking some havoc. Browns linebacker Keke Mingo, a first-round pick in April, has three sacks in three games, although defensive coordinator Ray Horton says he's a work in progress. Bills rookie Kiko Alonso, their second-round pick out Oregon, is tied for the NFL lead with four interceptions, including two last week off Joe Flacco. He leads the team with 32 tackles, including 19 solo.

5. Josh Gordon vs. the Bills' banged-up secondary: Gordon has the potential to put up some big numbers. Starting safety Jairus Byrd is questionable with a foot injury and cornerback Leodis McKelvin is questionable with a hamstring. The Bills and their 23rd-ranked pass defense have surrendered 100-yard games this season to Torrey Smith (166), Santonio Holmes (154), Stephen Hill and (108) and Danny Amendola (104). Gordon has piled up 217 yards receiving on 14 catches in two games, including a 47-yard TD.

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